C9 or develop locally for backend?

I’m getting ready to start the backend section of the course, and I’m a little torn between using C9 to develop everything or diving into the deep end and setting up a local dev environment.

I’m currently running Windows 10, but I have VMWare set up with Elementary OS (would probably switch to Manjaro or something). I have limited Linux experience, but I figure setting everything up would help increase that knowledge and would apply more to how a project works in the real world.

Any thoughts on this? I’ve seen a few people comment that they have done something similar. What was your experience like, and is it worth it?

Developing locally is great. It’s nice to have greater control of your environment and the tools you use.
Cloud 9 does how ever allow for pair programming.

3 Likes

You could use C9 but I don’t recommend it TBH.

Using a fully fledged local environment that you’ve took time to actually setup yourself is miles better than using online IDE’s. And if you want to be a serious developer in the long-term you have to learn basic tasks such as setting up your own development environment.

Also learn Vagrant! it’ll make your life much easier.

1 Like

Developing locally is good, and better if you don’t have Internet connection in a some moment.

1 Like

You’re probably going to want to do both at some point. Pair programming with an online IDE will allow for collaboration if you’re working with your partner at a distance. Neither of you will have to wait for the other to commit code to the repo before you can see changes. You’ll be able to work together in real time.

1 Like

Thanks for the replies! Based on this, I’ll learn the local environment first. Just have to get VMWare to play nice.

Any potential issues specific to FCC projects that I should keep in mind?

I have both a local dev environment setup on Windows 10 ( sublime text 2, nodejs, vmware player) and also have experience developing on c9. Local is great but if you need to collaborate with anyone, a c9 environment is best for that. I had a good experience using c9 for an online bootcamp and for a newbie, this is a good way to go before getting hip deep into buiding out and configuring a local environment.

1 Like

As you are using a windows PC using Cloud9 will help you learn the basics of bash / linux which will be super useful skills to have. Using Cloud9 will also mean you can spend more time focusing on coding rather than environmental configuration which can be frustrating as a beginner.

I think having a local environment can wait until you have more experience, you don’t need it (I coded locally for 7 years then exclusively in Cloud9 for the last 2 years and haven’t had a reason to go back to using my local environment), and may as well focus on learning to code which is what really matters.

1 Like

My current setup is:
Windows 10, Atom, Powershell, with the heroku tool belt installed (which includes Git IIRC) and node.

It’s all working fine. While Powershell is not bash, it’s close enough for me at the moment. Looking forward to the Windows 10 update that is coming soon, as that will give us a real bash terminal on Windows :slight_smile:

Or Docker, better still :wink:

Im using Ubuntu and Windows 10 dual boot. Windows 10 for gaming (Don’t game much anymore) and Ubuntu for my dev environment.

I settled on a Kubuntu 16.04 VM. Everything works nicely, though mongo was a pain to get up and running for some reason.